First Day In The Mission

I remember my first day in the mission, as a young boy. We weighed anchor off Ocean Island (now Banaba). It was hot and humid. The sky was clear, and the ocean heaving. We needed to jump from a rope ladder into a launch. Timing was critical. With every swell of the ocean, the launch drifted from the ship, then slammed back into the side. I was already in the launch when my father jumped -- but he mistimed it.  He fell into the breach between the launch and the ship. The launch slammed into him. His Polaroid sunglasses -- his only pair -- went to the bottom of the ocean. An islander pulled him from the ocean with a badly grazed leg. I could see that he was suffering. “Look!” someone said. “Sharks!” We saw their fins in the water all around us.